JP7160149B2 - Information providing device and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing device and an information providing method.

In Patent Document 1, the positions of mobile terminals held by people are acquired from a DGPS (Differential Positioning System) and a base station, and based on the information, the number of people with mobile devices in a certain place and their A device is disclosed that calculates a congestion rate in a place and provides it to a user. Further, it is disclosed that the device predicts the future congestion rate from the current congestion situation and past data, and provides it to the user.

In Non-Patent Document 1, there is a technique (heterogeneous mixture learning technique) related to a model (heterogeneous mixture prediction model) that divides input data into cases according to decision tree rules and predicts with a linear model that combines different explanatory variables in each case. disclosed.

JP-A-2002-288385

"Advanced Technology Supporting Big Data, Heterogeneous Mixture Learning", [online], NEC Corporation, [searched on April 26, 2016], Internet <URL: http://jpn.nec.com/bigdata/analyze /index.html>

The user may decide whether or not to go to the location by considering not only the current congestion situation and future congestion rate, but also other current conditions at the location. The technology described in Patent Literature 1 can provide the current congestion status and future congestion rate, but cannot provide other information. An object of the present invention is to provide a new technique for determining the current situation at a certain place.

According to the invention,
a specifying means for specifying the status of the store based on the store information acquired by the acquiring means;
output means for outputting based on the result of identification by the identification means;
with
The information processing apparatus is provided, wherein the identifying means determines the shop information to be used for the identification based on the date and time when the shop information was acquired and the current date and time.

Moreover, according to the present invention,
the computer
an identification step of identifying the status of the store based on the store information acquired in the acquisition step;
an output step of performing an output based on the identification result of the identification step;
and run
An information processing method is provided, wherein in the identifying step, shop information to be used for the identification is determined based on the date and time when the shop information was acquired and the current date and time.

Moreover, according to the present invention,
the computer,
identification means for identifying the status of the store based on the store information acquired in the acquisition step;
output means for outputting based on the identification result of the identification step;
function as
A program is provided, wherein the identifying means determines the shop information to be used for the identification based on the date and time when the shop information was acquired and the current date and time.

The present invention provides a new technique for determining the current situation at a location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is an example of the functional block diagram which shows the whole image of the information provision system of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows notionally an example of the hardware constitutions of the information provision apparatus of this embodiment. It is an example of the functional block diagram of the information provision apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the information processed by the information provision apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a process of the information provision apparatus of this embodiment. It is an example of the functional block diagram of the information provision apparatus of this embodiment. It is an example of the functional block diagram of the information provision apparatus of this embodiment.

<First embodiment>
First, with reference to FIG. 1, the outline of the information providing system of this embodiment will be described. As illustrated, the information providing system has an information providing device 10, a store device 20, and a user terminal 30. FIG. These devices are connected to each other via a communication network 40 such as the Internet, and exchange information with each other.

The information providing device 10 acquires store raw information from at least one of the store device 20 and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store. Store raw information is information for specifying the current situation of the store. That is, the information providing device 10 uses at least one of the store device 20 of the first store and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer at the first store to identify the current situation of the first store. Get store raw information. In addition, the information providing device 10 uses at least one of the store device 20 of the second store and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer at the second store to identify the current situation of the second store. Get store raw information. If the information providing device 10 acquires the store raw information from the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store and does not acquire the store raw information from the store device 20, the information providing system does not have the store device 20. good too.

Then, the information providing device 10 identifies the current situation of each store based on the store raw information. For example, the information providing device 10 can determine the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, the noise level of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, and the number of customers who smoke in the store. percentage of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, out-of-stock products, and future plans for the store Identify the current conditions of the store, including at least one of the congestion conditions.

Further, the information providing device 10 provides useful information to the user using the identification result. For example, the information providing device 10 may provide the user with the latest identification result of the store designated by the user, or provide information identifying the shop whose latest identification result matches the search condition designated by the user. You may

Next, the configuration of each device will be described.

The store device 20 is a device installed in a store. The store device 20 has means for acquiring store raw information for specifying the current situation of the store and means for transmitting the store raw information to the information providing device 10 . The store device 20 may include, for example, at least one of a camera, a microphone, and a POS (point of sales) system.

The user terminal 30 has means for acquiring store raw information for specifying the current situation of the store, means for transmitting store raw information and requests for information, and means for receiving replies to requests for information. Examples of the user terminal 30 include, but are not limited to, smart phones, tablets, mobile phones, PCs (personal computers), and the like.

Next, the configuration of the information providing device 10 will be described. First, an example of the hardware configuration of the information providing device 10 will be described. The information providing device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of any computer, a memory, a program loaded into the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk for storing the program (a program stored in advance from the stage of shipping the device). In addition, it can store programs downloaded from a storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a server on the Internet, etc.), and is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software centering on an interface for network connection. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the information providing device 10 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing device 10 has a processor 1A, a memory 2A, an input/output interface 3A, a peripheral circuit 4A and a bus 5A. The peripheral circuit 4A includes various modules.

The bus 5A is a data transmission path for mutually transmitting and receiving data between the processor 1A, memory 2A, peripheral circuit 4A and input/output interface 3A. The processor 1A is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The memory 2A is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The input/output interface 3A includes an interface for acquiring information from an input device (eg, keyboard, mouse, microphone, physical key, touch panel display, code reader, etc.), an external device, an external server, an external sensor, etc., and an output device ( Examples: displays, speakers, printers, mailers, etc.), external devices, interfaces for outputting information to external servers, etc. The processor 1A can issue commands to each module and perform calculations based on the calculation results thereof.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the information providing device 10 of this embodiment. As illustrated, the information providing device 10 has an acquisition unit 11 , an identification unit 12 and an output unit 13 . FIG. 7 shows another example of a functional block diagram of the information providing device 10 of this embodiment. As illustrated, the information providing device 10 may further have a request acquisition unit 15 .

The acquiring unit 11 acquires store raw information from at least one of the store device 20 installed in the store and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store.

Based on the store raw information, the specifying unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the noise of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, and the number of people smoking in the store. percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are available, whether non-smoking seats in the store are available, out-of-stock products, and the future store congestion situations including at least one of the store congestion situations.

The information providing device 10 manages information as shown in FIG. The illustrated information associates the store ID (identifier) with the latest value (latest identification result) of each of the plurality of items. Each item includes, for example, male/female ratio of customers in the store, age ratio of customers in the store, noise of the store, whether there are children in the store, percentage of children in the store, and whether there are customers smoking in the store. percentage of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats are available in the store, out-of-stock products, and the like. The information is updated from time to time.

A specific example of store raw information and a specific example of processing for identifying the current situation of the store based on the store raw information will be described below.

"Concrete example 1"
For example, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire image data generated by at least one of a camera (store device 20) installed in a store and a user terminal 30 carried by a customer in the store as raw store information. Based on the image data, the specifying unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, and whether the store smokes. At least one of the following: whether there are customers, the ratio of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are available, and whether non-smoking seats are available in the store. You may specify the status of the containing store. Specific examples are described below.

"Concrete example 1-1"
A camera installed in a store may be installed, for example, at the doorway of the store so as to photograph people entering and leaving the store. In this case, the camera may generate moving image data. One camera may be used, or a plurality of cameras may be used. The generated image data is transmitted from the shop device 20 to the information providing device 10 with as little time loss as possible after generation.

The identifying unit 12 analyzes the acquired image data and extracts people entering the store and people leaving the store. Further, the specifying unit 12 specifies whether each person is a customer or a store clerk based on the features of the appearance of each person. For example, features of the store clerk's appearance (e.g., facial features, clothing features, etc.) may be registered in advance. Then, the specifying unit 12 may use the information to determine whether or not each of the extracted persons is a store clerk. The specifying unit 12 determines that a person who is determined not to be a store clerk is a customer.

Further, the specifying unit 12 estimates the attributes of each customer (eg, sex, age group, etc.) based on the features of the appearance of each person determined to be a customer. Based on the analysis results, the specifying unit 12 manages the number of customers in the store and the attributes of each customer (eg, gender, age group, etc.).

Based on the managed information, the identification unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, whether there are children in the store, and the ratio of children in the store (= number of children / number of customers). The age under which the child is judged to be a child is a matter of design (the same applies hereinafter).

"Concrete example 1-2"
In addition, the camera installed in the store may be installed so as to photograph the entire store. In this case, the camera may generate moving image data, or may generate still image data at predetermined time intervals. One camera may be used, or a plurality of cameras may be used. That is, the entire store may be photographed by a plurality of cameras. The generated image data is transmitted from the shop device 20 to the information providing device 10 with as little time loss as possible after generation.

The identifying unit 12 analyzes the acquired image data and extracts people present in the store (people depicted in the image). Further, the specifying unit 12 specifies whether each person is a customer or a store clerk based on the features of the appearance of each person. For example, features of the store clerk's appearance (e.g., facial features, clothing features, etc.) may be registered in advance. Then, the specifying unit 12 may use the information to determine whether or not each of the extracted persons is a store clerk. The specifying unit 12 determines that a person who is determined not to be a store clerk is a customer.

Further, the specifying unit 12 estimates the attributes of each customer (eg, sex, age group, etc.) based on the features of the appearance of each person determined to be a customer. Based on the analysis results, the specifying unit 12 manages the number of customers in the store and the attributes of each customer (eg, gender, age group, etc.).

Based on the managed information, the identification unit 12 selects at least one of the male and female ratio of customers in the store, the ratio of age groups of customers in the store, whether there are children in the store, and the ratio of children in the store. It is possible to identify the situation of the store including one.

In the case of this example, the image data generated by the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store is used instead of the image data generated by the camera (store device 20) installed in the store. may be performed. When the user captures an image of the entire store using the user terminal 30, the user associates the image data with the information identifying the store (information provision target store) and the type of image (eg, an image of the entire store), It is transmitted from the user terminal 30 to the information providing device 10 .

In this case, the identifying unit 12 uses the metadata of the image data acquired from the user terminal 30 (e.g., the place of photography, the date and time of photography, etc.), and uses the image data as information for identifying the current situation of the store. You can decide whether there is

For example, it may be determined whether or not the shooting location included in the metadata is inside the information providing target store. If the shooting location is inside the information providing store, it is used as information for specifying the current status of the information providing store, and if the shooting location is not inside the information providing store, the current status of the information providing store may not be used as information for specifying

In addition, if the difference between the shooting date and time included in the metadata and the current date and time is less than a predetermined value, it is used as information to identify the current situation of the information provision target store, and if the difference is greater than a predetermined value, the information It does not have to be used as information for specifying the current situation of the offer target store.

In this way, the current situation of the store can be identified using only reliable information. As a result, the reliability of the information provided by the information providing device 10 is improved.

"Concrete example 1-3"
In addition, the camera installed in the store may be installed so as to photograph the entire smoking seat or the non-smoking seat of the store. In this case, the camera may generate moving image data, or may generate still image data at predetermined time intervals. One camera may be used, or a plurality of cameras may be used. That is, a plurality of cameras may photograph the entire smoking or non-smoking seats of the store. The generated image data is transmitted from the shop device 20 to the information providing device 10 with as little time loss as possible after generation.

The specifying unit 12 analyzes the acquired image data and extracts a person sitting in a smoking seat or a non-smoking seat (person reflected in the image). Further, the specifying unit 12 holds in advance the number of smoking seats or non-smoking seats. Then, the specifying unit 12 specifies the situation of the store including whether or not the smoking seats or non-smoking seats are available based on the number of people sitting in the smoking seats or non-smoking seats and the number of smoking seats or non-smoking seats. do. For example, if the number of people sitting in smoking seats or non-smoking seats is smaller than the number of smoking seats or non-smoking seats, it is determined that smoking seats or non-smoking seats are available.

In the case of this example, the image data generated by the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store is used instead of the image data generated by the camera (store device 20) installed in the store. may be performed. When the user captures an image of the entire smoking or non-smoking seats in the store using the user terminal 30, the image data is stored as information identifying the store (information provision target store) or the type of image (e.g., the entire smoking seat in the store). or an image of the entire non-smoking seat), and is transmitted from the user terminal 30 to the information providing apparatus 10.

In this case, the specifying unit 12 may use the metadata of the image data acquired from the user terminal 30 to determine whether or not to use the image data as information for specifying the current situation of the store. A specific example of the determination process is the same as that described above.

"Concrete example 1-4"
In addition, the camera installed in the store may be installed so as to photograph the top of each table in the store. In this case, the camera may generate moving image data, or may generate still image data at predetermined time intervals. One camera may be used, or a plurality of cameras may be used. In other words, all the tables in the store may be photographed with a plurality of cameras. The generated image data is transmitted from the shop device 20 to the information providing device 10 with as little time loss as possible after generation.

The specifying unit 12 analyzes the acquired image data and extracts an ashtray (an ashtray reflected in the image). For example, feature values of ashtrays used in each store may be registered in advance. The identifying unit 12 also determines whether or not the extracted ashtray contains cigarette butts. For example, the color of the bottom of the ashtray may be different from that of cigarette butts, and the color difference may be used to determine whether or not the bottom of the ashtray is partly or wholly hidden. Then, when the bottom surface of the ashtray is hidden by a predetermined ratio or more, it may be determined that the ashtray contains cigarette butts. In addition, you may judge by another method.

If there is an ashtray containing cigarette butts, the identification unit 12 can determine that there is a customer smoking in the store. Then, when there is no ashtray containing cigarette butts, the specifying unit 12 can determine that there is no customer smoking in the store. Further, the identification unit 12 can determine the percentage of customers who smoke in the store based on the number of ashtrays containing cigarette butts. For example, the correspondence relationship between the number of ashtrays containing cigarette butts and the percentage of customers who smoke in the store may be registered in advance for each store. Then, the specifying unit 12 may specify the percentage of customers who smoke in the store based on the information and the number of ashtrays containing cigarette butts specified by the image analysis.

"Concrete example 2"
For example, the acquiring unit 11 may acquire voice data generated by at least one of the microphone (store device 20) installed in the store and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store as raw store information. Then, the specifying unit 12 may specify the noisyness of the store based on the voice data.

The microphone installed in the store may be installed at a position where the sound of the entire store can be collected. The number of microphones may be one or may be plural. The microphone picks up sound with, for example, a predetermined reference setting, and generates audio data. The generated voice data is transmitted from the shop device 20 to the information providing device 10 with as little time loss as possible after generation.

The identification unit 12 analyzes the acquired voice data and identifies the situation of the store including the noisyness of the store. For example, the noisiness of a store may be divided into multiple levels such as "quiet", "normal", and "noisy". Then, the specifying unit 12 may specify, for example, which floor the shop is noisy based on the sound pressure level or the like.

In the case of this example, voice data generated by the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store is used instead of the voice data generated by the microphone (store device 20) installed in the store. may be performed. When the user collects the sound of the store using the user terminal 30 and generates voice data, the user associates the voice data with the information identifying the store (information provision target store), and provides information from the user terminal 30. Send to device 10 .

In this case, the specifying unit 12 uses the metadata of the voice data acquired from the user terminal 30 (eg, location of sound collection, date and time of sound collection, etc.) to convert the voice data into information for specifying the current situation of the store. You may decide whether to use it as A specific example of the determination process is the same as that described above.

"Concrete example 3"
For example, from the POS system installed in the store, the acquisition unit 11 obtains the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, and the ratio of children in the store. , whether there are any smoking customers in the store, the ratio of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are available, whether non-smoking seats in the store are available, and , information indicating at least one of the out-of-stock products may be acquired as store raw information.

Then, based on the information acquired from the POS system, the identification unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, and the number of children in the store. percentage, whether there are customers who smoke in the store, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether there are smoking seats available in the store, whether there are non-smoking seats available in the store, And, store conditions including at least one of the out-of-stock items may be identified.

The store clerk regularly checks the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, whether there are children in the store, the percentage of children in the store, and whether smoking seats are available in the store. , the availability of non-smoking seats in the store, and at least one of out-of-stock items may be entered into the POS system. For example, the store clerk may enter the latest information each time a customer changes or an item is out of stock. The POS system stores the entered information. Then, the POS system transmits the stored latest information of the various items to the information providing apparatus 10 at an arbitrary timing (for example, each time the information is updated, every predetermined time).

"Concrete example 4"
For example, the acquisition unit 11 obtains, from the user terminal 30 carried by a customer in the store, the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, Percentage of children, whether there are customers who smoke in the store, percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats are available in the store, whether non-smoking seats are available in the store and information indicating at least one of the out-of-stock products may be acquired as store raw information.

Then, based on the information acquired from the user terminal 30, the identification unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether or not there are children in the store, and the number of children in the store. whether there are customers who smoke in the store, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether there are smoking seats available in the store, whether there are non-smoking seats available in the store , and store conditions that include at least one of the out-of-stock items.

The user inputs the store raw information (e.g., male/female ratio of customers in the store) to the user terminal 30, associates it with the information identifying the store (information providing target store), and sends the information from the user terminal 30 to the information providing device. Send to 10. In this case, the user terminal 30 may further transmit the location information of its own device to the information providing device 10 . The specifying unit 12 may use the position information acquired from the user terminal 30 to determine whether or not to use the store raw information acquired from the user terminal 30 as information for specifying the current situation of the store.

For example, it may be determined whether or not the user terminal 30 is located inside the information providing store. When the position of the user terminal 30 is inside the information providing store, it is used as information for specifying the current situation of the information providing target store. It does not have to be used as information for specifying the current situation of the target store.

Next, the process of specifying the future congestion status of the store by the specifying unit 12 will be described. The identification unit 12 determines the gender ratio of customers in the store identified based on the store raw information, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, and the ratio of children in the store. Whether there are any customers who smoke, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether there are smoking seats available in the store, whether there are non-smoking seats available in the store, and out-of-stock products , to identify the congestion status of the store in the future based on the latest value of at least one of .

In addition, the specifying unit 12 may also identify changes in at least one of the above items over time on the current day, attributes of the current day (e.g., month, day of the week, weather, season, etc.), store congestion status at that point in time, etc. At least one of the above may be further used to identify the congestion status of the store in the future. The mix of stores at that point in time can be specified based on, for example, the raw store information. For example, the number of customers in the store may be specified by the method described in Specific Example 1-1, and the congestion status may be specified based on the number of customers and the number of seats in the store. The congestion status may be expressed in multiple layers such as congestion levels 1 to 5, or may be expressed as a percentage (eg, congestion status=number of customers/number of seats).

The identification unit 12 collects a plurality of items such as congestion status in past sales of each store, attributes of each day (eg, month, day of the week, weather, season, etc.), time change of at least one of the above items for each day, etc. It is possible to generate an estimation model by machine learning based on this data, and to specify the future congestion situation based on the estimation model. For example, a heterogeneous mixture learning model may be used in which input data is classified according to rules in the form of a decision tree, and prediction is performed using a linear model that combines different explanatory variables for each case. This technology is widely known as a “heterogeneous mixture learning technology”. For example, it is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1.

For example, cases may be classified by month, by day of the week, by weather, by time of day, or by season. Cases may be divided, cases may be divided according to the ratio of men and women, cases may be divided according to the age group ratio of customers, cases may be divided according to the loudness of the store, Cases may be divided according to whether or not there are children in the store, cases may be divided according to the proportion of children in the store, or cases may be divided according to whether there are customers smoking in the store. However, cases may be classified according to the ratio of smoking customers in the store, cases may be divided according to whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, or if there are non-smoking seats in the store Cases may be classified according to whether or not there is an available product, cases may be classified according to the presence or absence of an out-of-stock product, or cases may be classified according to the type of out-of-stock product.

The specifying unit 12 includes the estimation model, the latest value of at least one of the plurality of items, the time change of at least one of the plurality of items on the current day, the attributes of the current day (e.g., month, day of the week) , weather, season, etc.), and using the congestion status of the store at that time, the congestion status of the store after a predetermined time (e.g., 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes) from that time, and the future store You may specify the time change of the congestion situation etc. of this.

Returning to FIG. 3, the output unit 13 outputs at least one of the result of identification by the identification unit 12 and the information identifying the store whose identification result matches the search condition. For example, the request acquisition unit 15 (see FIG. 7) may acquire the information request from the user terminal 30 . Then, the output unit 13 may return predetermined information to the user terminal 30 in response to the request.

For example, the user may operate the user terminal 30 to specify an arbitrary “store” and transmit a request for information indicating the current status of the store (store status request) to the information providing device 10 . The request acquisition unit 15 can acquire the store status request. And the output part 13 may reply the latest identification result of the designated shop to the user terminal 30 according to the said shop status request.

In addition, the user may operate the user terminal 30 to specify an arbitrary “store situation” and transmit a request for shops that match the situation (search conditions) to the information providing apparatus 10 . The request acquisition unit 15 can acquire the request. Then, in response to the request, the output unit 13 may extract a store whose latest specified result matches (matches) the designated search condition, and may return information identifying the store to the user terminal 30. .

The search conditions in this example are, for example, the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, the noise level of the store, whether there are children in the store, the percentage of children in the store, and whether the store smokes. Whether there are customers, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are available, whether non-smoking seats are available in the store, sold-out products, and future stores at least one of the congestion situations. When a plurality of items are specified, they can be connected by a predetermined logical expression.

In addition, in the request specifying the "store status", it may be possible to further narrow down the stores to be searched by the location of the store, the category of the store, or the like.

Next, an example of the processing flow of the information providing apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described. First, the acquiring unit 11 continues acquiring store raw information. Further, the specifying unit 12 continues the process of specifying the current situation of the store based on the store raw information. As a result, information indicating the current situation of each store as shown in FIG. 4 is maintained in the latest state. Processing by the output unit 13 is performed in parallel with these processing.

An example of the flow of processing by the output unit 13 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The output unit 13 is waiting for a request from the user terminal 30 (S10).

When the request acquisition unit 15 acquires a request specifying a store, the acquisition unit 11 extracts the latest identification result of the store specified by the request from the information shown in FIG. 4, for example (S11). Then, the acquisition unit 11 outputs the extracted information to the user terminal 30 (S12).

Further, when the request acquisition unit 15 acquires a request designating the status of the store, the acquisition unit 11 extracts a store that matches the status of the store specified in the request, for example, from the information shown in FIG. 4 (S11). . Then, the acquisition unit 11 outputs the information identifying the extracted store to the user terminal 30 (S12).

As long as there is no instruction to end the process (No in S13), the above process is repeated.

According to the information providing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment described above, based on store raw information acquired from at least one of the store device 20 installed in the store and the user terminal 30 carried by the customer in the store, Can identify the current situation.

For example, the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, the noise of the store, whether there are children in the store, the percentage of children in the store, whether there are customers smoking in the store, the store percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, out-of-stock products, and future store congestion One can be identified.

Then, the information providing apparatus 10 can provide useful information to the user based on the identified information.

For example, it is possible to provide information indicating the current status of a store specified by the user, or to provide information identifying a store that matches the "store status" specified by the user.

Based on the information acquired from the information providing device 10, the user can grasp the current situation of each store. Then, based on the content, the store to be used from now on can be determined.

According to the information providing device 10 as described above, the user can efficiently find the store that is in the situation that he/she likes at that time. As a result, the user can reduce the time spent searching for a store.

In addition, the information providing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment can measure the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, smoking in the store, and so on. percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are available, whether non-smoking seats in the store are available, and the number of out-of-stock products Based on the current situation of the store indicated by at least one of them, the future congestion situation of the store can be estimated. As a result, the estimation accuracy is improved.

Further, when the information providing device 10 acquires store raw information from the user terminal 30 and does not acquire store raw information from the store device 20 , the information providing system does not have to have the store device 20 . In this case, the system can be operated without installing new equipment (store device 20) in the store. As a result, the burden of equipment investment can be reduced.

<Second embodiment>
In addition to the functions described in the first embodiment, the information providing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment calculates the trends of the identification results of each store for each time zone based on the accumulated data of the identification results accumulated by the identification unit 12. can do. The information providing device 10 can then provide the user with information indicating the trend.

The information providing system of this embodiment has an information providing device 10, a store device 20, and a user terminal 30, as in the first embodiment. These devices are connected to each other via a communication network 40 such as the Internet, and exchange information with each other. Note that the information providing system does not need to have the store device 20 as described in the first embodiment.

The configurations of the store device 20 and the user terminal 30 are the same as in the first embodiment.

The configuration of the information providing device 10 will be described below. An example of the hardware configuration of the information providing device 10 is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the information providing device 10 of this embodiment. As illustrated, the information providing device 10 has an acquisition unit 11 , a specification unit 12 , an output unit 13 , and a trend calculation unit 14 . Although not shown, the information providing device 10 may further have a request acquisition unit 15 . The configurations of the acquisition unit 11 and the identification unit 12 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The trend calculation unit 14 calculates the trend of the identification results for each time period in each store based on the accumulated data of the identification results accumulated by the identification unit 12 . Note that the trend calculation unit 14 may classify cases according to other factors such as month, day of the week, weather, season, etc., and calculate the trend of the specific result for each time zone in each case.

For example, the trend calculation unit 14 calculates the gender ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the noise of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, the number of customers who smoke in the store, percentage of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, and at least one of the out-of-stock items A value with the highest probability for each time period (in the accumulated data, the value that appears most frequently in each time period) may be calculated.

The output unit 13 outputs the result of calculation by the trend calculation unit 14 .

For example, the user operates the user terminal 30, designates an arbitrary "store", and transmits to the information providing device 10 a request for information (trend request) indicating the trend of the situation of the store for each time zone. good too. The request acquisition unit 15 may acquire the trend request from the user terminal 30 . Then, the output unit 13 may reply to the user terminal 30 with the calculation result of the trend calculation unit 14 corresponding to the designated store in response to the trend request.

In addition, the user operates the user terminal 30 to specify an arbitrary "store", further specify a time period, and provide a request for information (trend request) indicating the trend of the store in that time period. It may be sent to device 10 . The request acquisition unit 15 may acquire the trend request from the user terminal 30 . Then, in response to the trend request, the output unit 13 may reply to the user terminal 30 with the calculation result of the trend calculation unit 14 corresponding to the specified store and the specified time period.

Note that the output unit 13 may further output at least one of the identification result by the identification unit 12 and the information identifying the store whose identification result matches the search condition, as in the first embodiment. Also, the request acquisition unit 15 may further acquire the request described in the first embodiment from the user terminal 30 .

An example of the processing flow of the information providing apparatus 10 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

According to the information providing device 10 of this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved. In addition, the information providing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment can calculate the trend of the situation of each store for each time zone and provide it to the user.

According to the information providing apparatus 10 as described above, the user can efficiently find a store that is currently in the situation that he/she likes, or a store that is likely to be in the situation that he/she likes in the future. . As a result, the user can reduce the time spent searching for a store.

Examples of reference forms are added below.
1. Acquisition means for acquiring store raw information from at least one of a device installed in a store and a user terminal carried by a customer in the store;
Based on the store raw information, the ratio of male and female customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, the ratio of children in the store Whether there are smoking customers, the ratio of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, and out of stock identification means for identifying a situation of the store including at least one of products and a congestion situation of the store in the future;
output means for outputting a result of identification by the identification means;
An information providing device having
2. 1. In the information providing device according to 1,
The acquiring means acquires image data generated by at least one of a camera installed in the store and the user terminal as the store raw information,
The identifying means, based on the image data, is the male/female ratio of customers at the store, the age group ratio of customers at the store, whether there are children at the store, the ratio of children at the store, and smoking at the store. whether or not there are customers who smoke, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether or not the smoking seats in the store are vacant, and whether the non-smoking seats in the store are vacant an information providing device that identifies the situation of the store including at least one of
3. In the information providing device according to 1 or 2,
The acquiring means acquires voice data generated by at least one of a microphone installed in the store and the user terminal as the store raw information,
The specifying means is an information providing device that specifies the situation of the store including the noise of the store based on the voice data.
4. In the information providing device according to any one of 1 to 3,
The acquisition means obtains from the POS (point of sales) system installed in the store, the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, and whether there are children in the store. whether there are children in the store, whether there are customers who smoke in the store, the percentage of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, the store acquiring as the store raw information information indicating whether or not a non-smoking seat existing in the store is vacant and at least one of out-of-stock products;
Based on the information acquired from the POS system, the identifying means includes the male/female ratio of customers at the store, the age group ratio of customers at the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children at the store, the Ratio of children in the store, whether or not there are customers smoking in the store, percentage of customers smoking in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, non-smoking areas in the store An information providing device for specifying whether a seat is vacant and the situation of the store including at least one out-of-stock product.
5. In the information providing device according to any one of 1 to 4,
The acquisition means obtains, from the user terminal, the male/female ratio of customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, Whether there are customers who smoke in the store, the ratio of customers who smoke in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, and whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant and acquire information indicating at least one of the out-of-stock products as the store raw information,
Based on the information acquired from the user terminal, the identifying means includes: male/female ratio of customers at the store, age group ratio of customers at the store, loudness of the store, whether there are children at the store, Ratio of children in the store, whether or not there are customers smoking in the store, percentage of customers smoking in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, non-smoking areas in the store An information providing device for specifying whether a seat is vacant and the situation of the store including at least one out-of-stock item.
6. In the information providing device according to any one of 1 to 5,
The identification means includes the gender ratio of customers at the store specified based on the store raw information, the age group ratio of customers at the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children at the store, percentage of children, whether or not there are customers smoking in the store, percentage of customers smoking in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, and non-smoking seats in the store An information providing device for specifying the future situation of the store, including the congestion situation of the store, based on at least one of vacancy and out-of-stock products.
7. In the information providing device according to any one of 1 to 6,
further comprising trend calculation means for calculating a trend of the identification result for each time period in the store based on accumulated data of the identification result accumulated by the identification means;
The output means is an information providing device that further outputs the result of calculation by the trend calculation means.
8. In the information providing device according to any one of 1 to 7,
further comprising request acquisition means for acquiring a request specifying the status of the store;
The output means is an information providing device for outputting information for identifying a store whose identification result matches the situation of the store designated by the request.
9. the computer
an acquisition step of acquiring store raw information from at least one of a device installed in a store and a user terminal carried by a customer in the store;
Based on the store raw information, the ratio of male and female customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, the ratio of children in the store Whether there are smoking customers, the ratio of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, and out of stock an identifying step of identifying a situation of the store including at least one of products and a future congestion situation of the store;
an output step of outputting the identification result in the identification step;
Information provision method to carry out.
10. the computer,
Acquisition means for acquiring store raw information from at least one of a device installed in a store and a user terminal carried by a customer in the store;
Based on the store raw information, the ratio of male and female customers in the store, the age group ratio of customers in the store, the loudness of the store, whether there are children in the store, the ratio of children in the store, the ratio of children in the store Whether there are smoking customers, the ratio of smoking customers in the store, whether smoking seats in the store are vacant, whether non-smoking seats in the store are vacant, and out of stock Identifying means for identifying the situation of the store including at least one of the products and the congestion situation of the store in the future;
output means for outputting a result of identification by the identification means;
A program that acts as a

1A processor 2A memory 3A input/output I/F
4A Peripheral circuit 5A Bus 10 Information providing device 11 Acquisition unit 12 Identification unit 13 Output unit 14 Trend calculation unit 15 Request acquisition unit 20 Store device 30 User terminal 40 Network

Claims (10)

a specifying means for specifying the status of the store based on the store information acquired by the acquiring means;
output means for outputting based on the result of identification by the identification means;
with
The identifying means determines store information to be used for the identification based on the date and time when the store information was acquired and the current date and time ,
The store information is image data, voice data, or data input to a POS system installed in the store,
The specifying means is an information processing device that specifies the situation of the store based on the analysis result of the image data, the analysis result of the voice data, or the data input to the POS system . 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said identifying means uses said shop information for said identification when a difference between the date and time when said shop information is acquired and the current date and time is equal to or less than a predetermined value. . 3. The information according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said identifying means does not use said shop information for said identification when the difference between the date and time when said shop information is acquired and the current date and time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. processing equipment 4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the store information includes an image of the inside of the store. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said acquiring means is a camera installed in said store or a user terminal carried by a customer in said store. The situation of the store is the male/female ratio of customers at the store, the age group ratio of customers at the store, the noise of the store, whether there are children at the store, the ratio of children at the store, and smoking at the store. percentage of customers who smoke at the store; whether smoking seats in the store are available; whether non-smoking seats are available in the store; 6. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising at least one of , and congestion status of the store. 7. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the output means outputs the identification result of the store designated by the user. 8. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said output means outputs information for identifying a shop whose situation indicated by said identification result matches the situation of the shop designated by the user. The output means identifies a store whose situation indicated by the identification result matches the situation of the store specified by the user and whose location or category matches the location or category specified by the user. 9. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which outputs information. the computer
an identification step of identifying the status of the store based on the store information acquired in the acquisition step;
an output step of performing an output based on the identification result of the identification step;
and run
In the identifying step, the store information to be used for the identification is determined based on the date and time when the store information was acquired and the current date and time ,
The store information is image data, voice data, or data input to a POS system installed in the store,
In the specifying step, the information processing method specifies the situation of the store based on the analysis result of the image data, the analysis result of the voice data, or the data input to the POS system .

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